The present invention relates generally to suspended ceiling systems and more particularly to an entire prefabricated overhead building assembly including a specific suspended ceiling system.
At the present time, one trend in the buildingindustry resides in the prefabrication of structural buildings. Generally, this does not mean that the entire building is made and assembled at the manufacturing site but rather that separate sections, for example, the walls, roof, and so on, are prefabricated at a common facility or separate facilities and thereafter transported to the ultimate building site for assembly. In many cases, it may be desirable to use suspended ceiling systems in these structural buildings. One such system is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,848,385, issued to Neil J. Thompson, the applicant of the present application, on Nov. 19, 1974. This particular system and many suspended ceiling systems generally include individual components which are assembled together to form a suspended ceiling support grid. This suspended grid is assembled together and connected to and below an overhead structure, for example, the prefabricated roof or to and below one of the intermediate floors, generally at the building site.
For various reasons, applicant has found it to be more advantageous to assemble the suspended ceiling system and connect it to the prefabricated overhead structure at the manufacturing site of the overhead structure rather than at the building site. However, applicant has recognized that to do this one specific problem must be overcome. This problem resides in transporting the joined overhead structure and suspended ceiling system from the assembly site to the building site without damaging the ceiling system. This problem is particularly worrisome where the entire prefabricated assembly is to be transported by means of truck over roads which are often not very smooth.
Obviously, there could be a number of different ways to "tie down" the suspended ceiling system to overcome the problem just discussed. However, as will be seen hereinafter, the present invention provides a unique way which is uncomplicated, economical and reliable and a way which allows the ceiling system to be "untied" and allowed to suspend from the overhead structure with minimal effort.